Rules of the Supreme Court Amendment Rules 1999
RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT AMENDMENT RULES 1999

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BR 61/1999

SUPREME COURT ACT 1905

1905 : 4

RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT AMENDMENT RULES 1999

The Chief Justice in exercise of the powers conferred on him by
section 62 of the Supreme Court Act 1905 and section 12 of the
International Child Abduction Act 1998 makes the following Rules:

Citation
1 These Rules may be cited as the Rules of the Supreme Court
Amendment Rules 1999.

Addition of Order 118
2 The Rules of the Supreme Court 1985 are amended by the
addition of the following:

"ORDER 118

PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL CHILD
ABDUCTION ACT 1998

118/1 Interpretation
In this Order—

"the Act" means the International Child Abduction Act 1998;

"the Convention" means the Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction which was signed at the Hague
on 25th October 1980.

RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT AMENDMENT RULES 1999

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118/2 Mode of application
Every application under the Convention shall be made by
originating summons.

118/3 Contents of originating summons: general provisions
The originating summons under which any application is made
under the Convention shall state—

(a) the name and date of birth of the child in respect of
whom the application is made;

(b) the names of the child's parents or guardians;

(c) the whereabouts or suspected whereabouts of the child;

(d) the interest of the plaintiff in the matter and the grounds
of the application; and

(e) particulars of any proceedings (including proceedings
out of the jurisdiction and concluded proceedings)
relating to the child,

and shall be accompanied by all relevant documents including
but not limited to the documents specified in Article 8 of the
Convention.

118/4 Contents or originating summons: particular
provisions
In applications under the Convention, in addition to the matters
specified in rule 3—

(a) the originating summons under which an application is
made for the purposes of Article 8 for the return of a
child shall state the identity of the person alleged to have
removed or retained the child and, if different, the
identity of the person with whom the child is presumed
to be;

(b) the originating summons under which an application is
made for the purposes of Article 15 for a declaration
shall identify the proceedings in which the request that
such a declaration be obtained was made.

RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT AMENDMENT RULES 1999

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118/5 Defendants
The defendants to an application under the Act shall be—

(a) the person alleged to have brought into Bermuda the
child in respect of whom an application under the
Bermuda Convention is made;

(b) the person with whom the child is alleged to be;

(c) any parent or guardian of the child who is within
Bermuda and is not otherwise a party;

(d) the person in whose favour a decision relating to custody
has been made if he is not otherwise a party; and

(e) any other person who appears to the court to have a
sufficient interest in the welfare of the child.

118/6 Acknowledgement of service
The time limited for acknowledging service of an originating
summons by which an application is made under the
Convention shall be seven days after service of the originating
summons (including the day of service) or, in the case of a
defendant referred to in rule 5(d) or (e), such further time as the
court may direct.

118/7 Evidence
(1) The plaintiff, on issuing an originating summons

under the Convention, may lodge affidavit evidence in the
Registry in support of his application and serve a copy of the
same on the defendant with the originating summons.

(2) A defendant to an application under the Convention
may lodge affidavit evidence in the Registry and serve a copy of
the same on the plaintiff within seven days after service of the
originating summons on him.

(3) The plaintiff in an application under the
Convention may within seven days thereafter lodge in the
Registry a statement in reply and serve a copy thereof on the
defendant.

118/8 Hearing
Any application under the Act shall be heard and determined by
a judge and shall be dealt with in chambers unless the court
otherwise directs.

118/9 Dispensing with service
The court may dispense with service of any summons in any
proceedings under the Act.

RULES OF THE SUPREME COURT AMENDMENT RULES 1999

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118/10 Adjournment of summons
The hearing of the originating summons under which an
application under the Convention is made may be adjourned for
a period not exceeding 21 days at any one time.

118/11 Interim directions
An application for interim directions under section 7 of the Act
may, where the case is one of urgency, be made ex parte on
affidavit but shall otherwise be made by summons.".

Made this 17th day of August, 1999

Chief Justice